Attention fans of food television programs: Watching too much is a recipe for weight gain.
That’s the upshot of new research that suggests fans of cooking shows who try out the recipes in their own kitchens that many of the programs pitch — which tend to be high in calories — are putting themselves at risk of packing on pounds.
The study, published online in the journal Appetite, is based on surveys of more than 500 women who were asked about where they learned about new foods, how frequently they cooked from scratch, and what their heights and weights were.
Women who watched food television and cooked frequently from scratch had a higher body-mass-index, or BMI — weighing on average 10 more pounds — than those who relied on family and friends, magazines and newspapers, or cooking classes, for recipes.
"The message is clear," said lead researcher Lizzy Pope of the University of Vermont, the study's lead author. "Food TV should be a viewing experience only, not a cooking experience."
Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, added that the recipes featured on food TV "are not the healthiest and allow you to feel like it's OK to prepare and indulge in either less nutritious food or bigger portions."
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